


if i loved you less

by narrativefoiltrope



Series: a poem in your mouth [1]
Category: The Wayhaven Chronicles (Interactive Fiction)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Kissing, Prompt Fill, Romantic Fluff, Surprise Kissing, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2020-11-10
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:21:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27497872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/narrativefoiltrope/pseuds/narrativefoiltrope
Summary: from a kiss prompt: a kiss on the hand featuring soft!adam on his mr. darcy bullshit after finally getting together with detective pandora kingston.
Relationships: Detective/Adam du Mortain, Female Detective/Adam du Mortain
Series: a poem in your mouth [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2009533
Kudos: 24





	if i loved you less

Pandora teetered in her heels over the uneven cobblestones leading to the hotel. She and Adam were going undercover to a dance hosted by a local group of fae: The Agency had caught wind of rumours that a few rogue faeries from a rival sect would attempt to kidnap this sect’s leader, and they needed people on the inside to intervene. The setting was not quite what she had expected—as the dance was taking place in the only five-star hotel within 30 miles of Wayhaven as opposed to through a portal in the trunk of a willow tree—but despite the less-than-exciting venue, Pandora was not complaining about dressing up and going dancing with Adam. Even if it was on a mission. 

She couldn’t help but compare this mission to the last time they went undercover, the two of them at the carnival with so many feelings still unacknowledged between them. This time their cover was genuine: They were together. They had been for several months, but it was still new enough that Pandora’s heart lurched each time she caught Adam’s eye and he didn’t immediately whip his head away from her. She glanced over at him now, looking dapper in a formal suit and understated navy tie, and the force of her feelings, combined with the unfamiliar high heels on the treacherously uneven stone street, nearly toppled her. 

So Pandora resorted to what she did best: Teasing him. 

“Adam, I have a tactical question for you,” she began. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye and, seeing her wobbly gait, offered her his forearm which she gladly took. “Do you think you’ll manage a more convincing cover this time than at the carnival?” A mischievous grin broke out onto her lips and only grew when Adam scoffed. 

“Of course. This mission is under different circumstances.”

Knowing full well what he meant but unable to pass up an opportunity to make Adam voice his feelings, Pandora goaded him further: “And what circumstances are those?”

Adam frowned at her slightly. “Pandora, you know how deeply I care for you; must you make me constantly reiterate it?” 

_Yes. Yes I must because it’s still surreal and I’m scared you’ll leave._ Instead of cracking open her chest for him, though, she smirked and shot back, “Maybe if you told me more, I’d annoy you about it less.” 

Pandora felt Adam stifle a sigh next to her and she laughed. She wasn’t going to win this round. In accepting her defeat, she trailed her hand down from where it grasped his forearm to intertwine her fingers with his. The ever-present tension in his shoulders relaxed slightly as she squeezed his hand. “Okay, okay, I won’t make you say it. I’ll be on my best behaviour starting now,” she promised.

The words—completely foreign to her, both in their genuine tone and what they implied _(I wouldn’t change you, I love you, I’m trying)_ —spilled out of her mouth without thinking. For someone so used to wielding her words like tools, each one carefully selected to suit the situation and the listener and very rarely a reflection of her own thoughts, Pandora was unsettled to hear such casual honesty fall unbidden from her lips. She attempted to mask her moment of weakness by striding forward more quickly, as if she could physically leave the sentiment behind her.

She only made it a few steps farther when the hand that held Adam’s jerked her back. He had stopped walking. Pandora turned around to face him and was met with a soft green gaze. _If he had figured out what she meant—_

Adam gently pulled her closer to him and steadied her with his other hand at the small of her back. She was relieved to see a playful glint appear in his eyes as he said, “Detective Kingston, did you just promise to act professionally on a mission?” 

The panic coursing through her relented at his use of her title and surname, rarely invoked these days: He was teasing her. This she could do; this bantering, her comfort zone, was much safer than giving voice—consciously or otherwise—to the mess of emotions inside her. Pandora cocked her head to the side and matched his tone. “Why yes I did, Commanding Agent.” 

“Well then, if you’re making such an allowance for me, I suppose I can make one for you,” Adam said as the ghost of a smile pulled on the corners of his mouth. “You asked about our current circumstances… This mission will be different because I don’t have to pretend as though you don’t hold my heart in your hand.” 

He held her gaze as he lifted their intertwined hands. In a manner achingly slow and brutally delicate, he brought her hand up to his mouth and lightly brushed a kiss over the back of it. Pandora’s breath caught in her throat as she processed the open display of tenderness from the usually stoic man. Adam then disentangled his hand from hers, turned her hand over, and placed an equally devastating kiss on her palm, underscoring his words. 

She felt fragile. Feverish, even—somehow molten despite the ice trailing down her spine. The intensity of his eyes made her heart stutter and she was sure that had he not been supporting her, her knees would have buckled and landed her in a swoon. A small voice in the back of her head, coherent but barely, reminded her that he was aware of her reactions, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. 

Adam curled her fingers into a loose fist and kissed her knuckles gently before recapturing her hand with his. “We need to head inside,” he said quietly.

Pandora could only nod. For once, she was thoroughly speechless.

**Author's Note:**

> this is the first of a series of kiss prompts from tumblr! the title of the overall series comes from an andrea gibson poem. the title of this work in particular comes from jane austen's emma, the full version of which reads, “If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more.”


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